Uploaded on 2016-04-26 by mgomez_rojo

As an answer to this, I would say I think the criteria are subjective, in the way you interpret them, since I would probably choose certain criteria assuming, for example, that political stability or sanitation is already provided, but in an abstract way, starting from zero, then I would choose: Political stability (no wars/secure cities) Job opportunities Environment Sanitation Healthcare 2. Why do we live where we live? Currently abroad, I come from a suburban area close to the city of Madrid, in Spain. The main reasons I lived there was: - My family lived there, I went to school there, all my friends lived there_the place provided me with my primary social network. - It is really close to the city, and well connected to downtown Madrid, which made it really convenient to commute or go to the city to study and for leisure. -It has easy access to natural spaces like the Monte del Pardo or Casa de Campo, really nice forest areas. - It has less traffic and in more convenient (in terms of time) for daily life than the city center, in terms of time invested at going to the supermarket, meeting friends... -During the summer months, since it less densely built, is much cooler than the city center, and more comfortable to move around the high temperatures (35-40 Cº) -It is less noisy at nights than downtown Madrid, and you can better sleep. ![The forest between Aravaca and Madrid][1] ![Aravaca][2] 3. To what extend does your own place of residence fulfill your ideal livability criteria? I would say, it fulfilled my life at about an 80/100, before I left. Along with Madrid, both are very nive places to live in (Madrid also 85/100), except for the now difficult economic situation. 4. What would you change? I probably would invest more on creating livelier areas, since its mainly taken up by residential space without many attractions, except for certain nodes (e.g near the station). The connectivity to the city is alright, but not so effective within the area, which makes it sometimes necessary to use the car to go meet friends in the same town or go buy something at a more specialised shop. 5. Why do we move? I actually moved out a time ago, so for me it is not such a hypothetical question. My main reason to move was the lack of job opportunities, and therefore, when looking for a new city to live in, that was the main characteristic I was looking for. Secondly, I was thinking of moving to a smaller city than Madrid in order to achieve a more efficient (time-wise) daily life during the week, but which would still be well connected with major cities or which would provide with plenty to do on the free time (museums, bars, concerts...). A connection to nature or natural spaces was also something I was looking for, in addition with a more sustainable way of life (cycling, not needing a car...). I ended up moving to Bern, in Switzerland, but among many other possible destinations where cities such as Barcelona, Vienna, Granada, Amsterdam.... ![Amsterdam][3] ![Vienna][4] ![Granada][5] [1]: https://edxuploads.s3.amazonaws.com/14617033084810985.jpg [2]: https://edxuploads.s3.amazonaws.com/1461703432711268.jpg [3]: https://edxuploads.s3.amazonaws.com/14617046773873924.jpg [4]: https://edxuploads.s3.amazonaws.com/14617047045870376.jpg [5]: https://edxuploads.s3.amazonaws.com/14617046527133401.jpg